The accident happened at approximately 4:50 p.m. at the LaBar Practice Complex, located on the southeast side of campus. The student was filming Notre Dame football practice for the Department of Athletics from a hydraulic scissor lift when the incident occurred. The student was transported to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, where he later died.

“We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss,” Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president, said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the student’s family and friends and our prayers and profound sympathies are with them during this incredibly difficult time. The loss of someone so young is a terrible shock and a great sadness. Our entire community shares in the family’s grief.

This is the second tragedy to befall Notre Dame since Brian Kelly took over at the end of last season; recall that just this past April, recruit Matt James died in a Spring Break accident.

Tragedies like these can't be overcome; that's not the way life works. They can be worked through, to an extent, and the Fighting Irish players and staffers are fortunate to be in an environment where cooperation, trust, and camaraderie are already part of their day-to-day culture. That's how they'll get through the roughest emotional stretches this, and it'll be a transformative event in their lives all the same, but if they had any compunctions about depending on their fellow teammates in times of need, those must surely be gone now.

Sullivan was only 20. How dreadfully awful for him to die so soon. Our thoughts are with his family and the Notre Dame community.